Women of Influence

By Sam Morton

These ladies rock. They are leaders in their professions and life-changers in the community. They are your next door neighbors, your bosses, your mothers and your friends. Each of these women has influenced their community in a positive way and continue to be mentors to women across the state that hope to make a significant impact in the lives of others. Greater Columbia Business Monthly recognizes these ten leaders as Women of influence so they and their stories might serve to inspire the next generation.

Dr. Linda Salane,
Executive Director-The Leadership Institute- Columbia College

Linda Salane has her own personal mission statement: “To lead change—organizational, personal, local, regional, national, and international—in order to make the world a more just place for every individual. To challenge everyone I come into contact with to learn
and live in ways that energize their spirits and increase their dedication to making a difference. To laugh, to love, to live life to the fullest, always recognizing it as the gift it is.”
 
If you have a daughter at Columbia College; if you’re considering seeking advice from the Leadership Institute; if you are at all interested in the Greater Columbia community, you may want to pay attention to Salane. She and her personal creed are responsible for training future generations of leaders, women leaders in particular.
 
Salane came to Columbia College from the University of South Carolina. “I loved it (the University) dearly, but there is somethingvery powerful and meaningful about the education going on here,” she says. “I’m proud of this college that walks the talk.” Under the auspices of the Leadership Institute, she has touched the lives of people ranging from middle school kids to girls incarcerated at the Department of Juvenile Justice to college students to “the corporate woman who decides her idea is a good one and pursues it vigorously.”
 
Though she participates in, and is at times a critical member of, the Cooperative Ministry, Women in Philanthropy, and the Alliance for Women, she shies away from talking about personal achievements. “It’s not so much what I’ve done, but what I’ve been a small part of,” she says. “I’ve stood back in awe seeing what has been accomplished.” On a personal level, she proudly boasts of her 41 years of marriage, “two fabulous children, and one grandchild.”
 
For Salane, success means people trust her, that her word is her bond. “That is a core, core part of who I am,” she says. “Success means I can think through problems. I can see the complexity, but I lead with simplicity.”
 
When facing challenges, she does what she advises others to do. She keeps her focus. It’s easy to get diverted; easy to do the easy things, she said, but one must concentrate on the tasks at hand. “The great equalizer, though, is that we only have 168 hours in a week,” she says. “I am constantly working with myself and others to realize that’s our biggest asset base—that and remembering that you can give from an empty bucket.”
 
Salane’s advice for others is to build upon strengths, know what your values are, and to hold yourself accountable. She has read Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, and believes it has poignant advice for anyone seeking to be a leader. “He writes about the loss of human freedoms and the fact that everything we hold dear can be taken away from us,” she says. “The only thing that we can give away that someone can’t take is how we handle the situations we’re in.”
 
To read the full article, click here.
 
Posted with permission from Greater Columbia Business Monthly.